Population Council Research that makes a difference

Banner Photo: Two women filling out paperwork

Deciding whether to implement and strengthen a reproductive health program—or scale up a pilot-tested intervention—depends largely on evidence about whether the program is achieving its service-delivery objectives. This evidence can be generated through monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems that routinely monitor delivery of services and evaluate a program’s effectiveness in reaching its intended beneficiaries.

Population Council focus

The Council designs and implements M&E systems that generate data for:

  • monitoring a range of reproductive health and HIV/AIDS service-delivery programs; and
  • evaluating program effectiveness and impact through experimental research designs.

Population Council impact

  • In Senegal, the Population Council designed and is implementing the M&E component for a large-scale maternal, newborn/child health and family planning project. A particular innovation has been the revision of the national health management information system, enabling it to record active management of the third stage of labor by community-level delivery attendants.
  • In Ghana, the Council is assisting the National Malaria Control Program in establishing an M&E plan that harmonizes and links the various sources of data at all levels of the USAID-funded integrated malaria support project.
  • In Pakistan, the Council supports the M&E strengthening component of the Pakistan Initiative for Mothers and Newborns (PAIMAN), a nationwide systems-strengthening program aimed at improving maternal and newborn health.
  • In Vietnam, the Council’s partnership with the Thai Nguyen Provincial Health Service integrates many data sources into routine health management information systems to yield better-quality information for program planning.

Projects

Quality of Care and Client Willingness to Pay for Family Planning Services at Marie Stopes International Facilities in Burkina Faso (more)
The Council worked with Marie Stopes International to improve the family planning services MSI provides, and to propose strategies to ensure the sustainability of the program.
(11/2011 - 4/2012)
Burkina Faso

Increasing Access to Family Planning and Reproductive Health Services through Community Health Workers: Case Study of a Dual-cadre Model in India (more)
The Council conducted research on community health workers in India to examine how different cadres of health workers function in relation to one other in order to improve access to reproductive health and family planning services in rural areas.
(10/2010 - 9/2011)
India

Pakistan Initiative for Mothers and Newborns (PAIMAN) (more)
The Council is overseeing the management of the monitoring and evaluation component of the Pakistan Initiative for Mothers and Newborns (PAIMAN) a five-year project designed to assist the Government of Pakistan in implementing the full spectrum of interventions necessary to address mother and newborn health.
(11/2004 - 9/2009)
Pakistan

Measuring and Evaluating the Integration of Family Planning and Other Reproductive Health Services Through Innovative Data Collection Instruments and Methodologies (more)
Researchers with the Council’s FRONTIERS program examined the challenges of scaling up projects using operations research.
(8/2007 - 3/2008)
Interregional

Assessing Management Sciences for Health's Postabortion Care Decentralization Program (more)
Council researchers with the FRONTIERS program assessed the successful introduction of postabortion care in Senegal by the Ministry of Health.
(9/2006 - 1/2007)
Senegal

Resources

Assessment of management information system [MIS] of national program for family planning and primary health care [LHW Program] (PDF
Mahmood,Arshad; Naz,Syeda Saman
Publication date: 2012


Blood supply and transfusion services (PDF
Bhuiya,Ismat; Hossain,Sharif Mohammed Ismail; Chowdhury,Asiful Haider; Zahiduzzaman,K.M.; Tonima Hadi,Syeda; Islam,Khairul; Bhuiya,Abbas
from Bangladesh Health Watch Report 2009: How Healthy is Health Sector Governance, pp. 45-49
Publication date: 2010


Monitoring and Evaluation of the Emergency Plan Progress (MEEPP): End-of-project evaluation (PDF
Kalibala,Sam
Publication date: 2010


RAPIDS evaluation final report 2005-2009 key findings (PDF
Apicella,Louis; Schenk,Katie D.; Khan,Hena
Publication date: 2010


An executive summary of the primary health improvement initiative health systems assessment at commune level: Lessons from five provinces in Vietnam, 2004-2008 
Population Council Viet Nam (PCVN) Brief
Publication date: 2009


Technical assistance to the Uganda AIDS Commission for operationallisation of the performance monitoring and management plan (PDF
Makumbi,Frederick; Mayega,Roy; Kisitu,David; Sekandi,Juliet; Bwesigye,Denis A.; Miller,Robert; Kalibala,Sam
Publication date: 2009


Developing comprehensive and evidence-based policy and guidelines for antenatal and postnatal care in KwaZulu-Natal (PDF
Ditlopo,Prudence; Menziwa,Mantshi; Mullick,Saiqa; RamaRao,Saumya; Dalton,Janet; Nyasulu,Dolly; Beksinska,Mags; Kunene,Busi
FRONTIERS Final Report
Publication date: 2008


Knowledge, practice, and coverage (KPC) survey: Baseline report, Bagh District (PDF
Afridi,Munir; Naz,Saman; Munir,Nayyer
Publication date: 2007


Knowledge, practice, and coverage (KPC) survey: Baseline report, Mansehra District (PDF
Afridi,Munir; Naz,Saman; Munir,Nayyer
Publication date: 2007


The Ghana Community-based Health Planning and Services Initiative for scaling up service delivery innovation (abstract
Nyonator,Frank K.; Awoonor-Williams,John Koku; Phillips,James F.; Jones,Tanya C.; Miller,Robert A.
Health Policy and Planning 20(1): 25-34
Publication date: 2005


Computer Based Tools to Improve Supervision, Monitoring, and Evaluation of Reproductive Health Programs 
Publication date: 2000